Too Close for Comfort
by barneyrockz
Summary: When Darcy finds Elizabeth in the library, he sits next to her on the couch, but he finds himself slowly encroaching on her personal space. What happens when he manages to trap her on the couch? What does he ask in return for her freedom?


When Darcy entered the library, he expected to see no one, so he was very much surprised to see the lovely Miss Elizabeth sitting on a couch, engrossed in a book. The sight of her was utterly enchanting, her head slightly bowed and her lips moving soundlessly along with the story. Darcy went to take another step, but he faltered when he realized that the action was taking him directly to her side. He cleared his throat lightly to announce his presence. She still did not look up. Shrugging his shoulders lightly to himself, Darcy continued on his quest to find a book. Unfortunately, the presence of Miss Bennet was distracting him from his goal. When he finally did pick a book, he had no idea what the title was.

With his randomly chosen book in hand, Darcy was now looking for a place to sit. There were plenty of nice chairs in this room, but all had the disadvantage of facing Elizabeth which his concentration could not abide. Of course, there were many other rooms in this house, but however much he wanted to be away from Elizabeth, he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity just as much.

His eyes scanned the room once more and this time they fell on the couch a ways to Elizabeth's right. Surely there was more than enough room for two people to share the couch.

Elizabeth had not moved the entire time he had been in the library, but she started now as she felt the couch dip a little to her right. Looking up from her book at last, Elizabeth stared at Darcy with a strange expression.

"Mr. Darcy, I did not hear you come in." He responded with a slight inclination of his head and answered politely.

"Please forgive me, Miss Bennet. You seemed quite intent on your book and I did not wish to disturb you." Elizabeth gave him another strange look. She glanced down to the space between them and was satisfied. Anyway, Mr. Darcy was a gentleman and found her barley tolerable it wasn't as if he was going to try to take advantage of her. After inquiring after the wellbeing of her sister, Darcy turned to his book and politely suggested she do the same.

If Darcy had thought that he could focus better in this seat where he could not see her, he was sadly mistaken. Faint trances of her lavender scent washed over him and tried to draw him ever closer. Darcy shifted in his seat to try to hold back the urges that plagued him. Once he stopped moving, he chanced a glance toward Elizabeth and was quite shocked to see that his shifting had brought them closer together. Elizabeth was engrossed in her book again and had not noticed his movements.

Darcy's lips twitched into a mischievous smile. Carefully keeping his book in place to look as though he was reading, Darcy moved in his seat again, this time with more subtly. Slowly the space between them disappeared. When he was so near that her lavender scent hit him with force, he did not realize that their knees were touching until Elizabeth looked up from her book.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Darcy. I was lost in my book and it appears that I may have invaded your personal space. Do forgive me." She scooted away from him, but she was still closer than when they had started. Darcy hid a smirk.

Again he slid over and this time, he pressed his legs to hers more boldly. The lady apologized again and moved the rest of the way to the arm of the couch.

This time, Darcy completely disregarded the book he still did not know the title of and closed the distance separating them. When she felt him touch her for the _third_ time, Elizabeth looked up in alarm.

"This time it cannot possibly be my fault," she muttered quietly, "for _I_ have not moved." She looked up at him, expecting to see him lost in his book and completely unaware of their current situation. Instead she found herself staring into his face that was mere inches from her own. The book was nowhere to be found.

"We are very close, sir." It was a very obvious statement, and not one you would expect from the always witty Elizabeth Bennet, but their proximity, as well as the expression in his eyes, was leaving her brain rather scrambled.

"Yes, we are, Miss Bennet." Darcy gloried in the reactions he was eliciting from her. His smirk was prominent now. Elizabeth pulled her head back a little and was able to think with more clarity.

"You do realize that this couch has plenty of space and that there are other chairs about this room. You need not try to frighten me out of mine." Elizabeth was pointing out the various chairs in the room, but stopped as she looked behind her and noticed that his arm was stretched out along the back of the couch behind her.

"I happen to be partial to this spot," he declared.

"Then I will leave it to you and find another," was her response. She made an attempt to get up, but the arm behind her moved from the couch to her shoulders and held her down.

"As much as I appreciate the gesture, there is no need. I prefer this spot _just the way it is_." At the last few words, Darcy shifted even closer to her, pressing his body nearly flush against hers.

"Really sir, I should check on Jane." Still he would not let her up. She looked up at him with desperate eyes. "What will it take for you to let me go?" Darcy's smirk grew as he thought over all the things he could ask from her. Finally he chose one, perhaps not the one he would have preferred, but it would satisfy him.

"A kiss." Elizabeth's eyes widened substantially and her jaw dropped.

"But I am tolerable and not handsome enough to tempt you." Darcy felt a moment of pain as he registered that she had overheard his insult. His feelings shown in his eyes briefly, plain for Elizabeth to see.

"I did not really look at you that night. Now that I have had the chance to observe you I find you beautiful, enchanting, graceful, intelligent and above all _very, very tempting_." His eyes moved from hers to her lips and he leaned in. She did not move and he took her silence for acquiescence. He brushed his lips lightly on hers and pulled away before he had gotten more than a taste. He was still raised a gentleman even if he chose to disregard it for a few minutes.

Elizabeth's eyes were closed and she was still. Darcy slowly retracted his arm from around her shoulders, but he did not move away.

"You are free to go now." Her eyes slowly opened.

"I don't know if I can stand." Darcy chuckled to himself and felt a surge of pride that he could make her feel this way. Of course he felt just the same.

They sat for a few minutes neither saying a word. Elizabeth was still lost in the fog of the kiss and Darcy was feeling painful twinges in his heart. Finally just to break the silence, Darcy spoke.

"I hope that was not a most unpleasant experience, Miss Elizabeth." Her mind was beginning to clear and she bit her lip in an effort to stay focused on what he was saying.

"No, not at all. In fact, I found it rather pleasant." With that piece of very welcome information, Darcy was less worried when he leaned in again for another kiss. This time, Elizabeth was an active participant.

"Elizabeth," he whispered, his head still hovering near hers, "I was wondering if you would perhaps allow me to court you. Not now of course, but once you and your sister return to Longbourn, I would like to ask your father's permission and do everything proper." Elizabeth looked at him, her brain still a little fuzzy. Even if she had been fully in control of her senses, she doubted she could have made sense of what he was saying.

"Court me? To what end?" Darcy started, incredulity present in his eyes.

"For the purpose of marriage."

"Oh!" She exclaimed loudly. "You wish to marry me."

"Very much so, but I also wish to do the proper thing and court you first. Do you accept?" He stared into her eyes earnestly. She looked away over the arm of the chair and made an attempt to stand. His arm shot back across her shoulders and held her down once more.

"I will agree," he began in to smile, but it faded slightly upon her next words, "on one condition."

"Yes?"

"You must promise to _never_ trap me on a couch again. If you really want a kiss, ask for it." The term was immediately complied with and from then on, he could never be too close for comfort, only ever not close enough. 


End file.
